Someone needs to tell Internet NZ that the Government can already hack into encrypted messages…

Government warned over Five Eyes Attempts by the so-called Five Eyes alliance to prevent terrorists using encrypted messages should be carefully considered, a Kiwi internet users group says.

Ministers from the intelligence sharing alliance between New Zealand, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and United States met earlier this week to discuss how to work with communication providers to tackle terrorism.

But Internet NZ says it is worried the alliance governments will look to write new laws to force service providers to give them “backdoor” access enabling encrypted messages to be read.

The lobby has joined Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders and 79 other groups in signing an open letter, addressed to the Five Eyes governments.

…it’s almost as if whoever is running Internet NZ never went to any of our meetings on the mass surveillance laws.

The Telecommunications (Interception Capability and Security) Bill forces all telecommunications companies to open their networks to surveillance, it’s the enabler legislation to the draconian civil rights abuses the GCSB can now conduct legally. There’s no point in being able to spy on NZers if all the telecommunications companies who carry the data the Government want to spy on won’t play ball, so the TICS Bill forces them to comply with their networks being open to NZs various intelligence apparatus.

The Government passed law that forces anyone they target to hand over back door keys to their networks. The GCSB and SIS already have these powers, and the Government currently is looking to expand that to the Police…

Prime Minister Bill English has let on that New Zealand spies are involved in talks about allowing police easier access to encrypted messaging services like WhatsApp to intercept terrorist communications.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has called for large companies like Facebook and Apple that own messaging services to open up access to security agencies to help them combat the spread of extremism.

Addressing media after his bilateral talk with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday, Mr English let slip New Zealand is involved in looking into whether police should be given easier access to messaging services.

“We haven’t been part of, well, at official levels I’m sure they’ve been part of those discussions, because it’s been a concern for intelligence services for some time,” he said.

…this incredibly follows moves by National to expand mass surveillance tools to beneficiaries…

Privacy Commissioner John Edwards says the Ministry of Social Development’s (MSD) policy that requires social service providers to disclose client information goes too far.

Under the policy, providers will have to give the client information to the ministry when they apply for funding.

Speaking to The AM Show on Thursday, Mr Edwards said it would put people off seeking necessary help.

“The experience you or I might have of an organisation like MSD – which is that everyone’s there trying to do their best for people, trying to help people in their tough times – that’s not the experience of a lot of people,” he told host Duncan Garner.

“Just seeing that on the form – if you access these crisis services, that’ll go to MSD – that’s gonna put some people off and maybe even stop them getting the help they need.”

In addition to that, it’ll worsen MSD’s data, with people dropping off the grid and becoming “invisible” to Government and policy-makers.

Mr Edwards said MSD had not clearly explained why it wanted the client data.

“I don’t think they need it from everyone for every service they access… They need to say what it is going to be used for and what it isn’t going to be used for.”

…Anne Tolley says that we need all this information to create the best most cost effective welfare system.

Bullshit.

I believe that the mass surveillance campaign that is being waged against beneficiaries serves a far darker agenda here. Government intelligence agencies around the world are attempting to work out how to sift through huge amounts of mass surveillance for real time use, that’s what Peter Thiel’s Palantir does.

What Government agencies want to know is how can they spy in real time over people and how far can they go in accessing peoples details. In NZ this desire takes the form of mass surveillance over beneficiaries because no one in NZ cares about beneficiaries and they have zero voice or power.

The counter productive problems with National’s mass surveillance of beneficiaries is that vulnerable people who are already too terrified to engage with any Government agency will actively avoid getting any help so that the neoliberal welfare state can’t track them down and punish them.